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Toward the end of Florida’s 44-11 stomping of South Carolina, Gators coach Will Muschamp made the move most coaches would: he went to his back-up quarterback.

In this case, though, there was a consequence.
By appearing in the game, sophomore QB Jacoby Brissett no longer is eligible to red-shirt this season. Brissett, from Dwyer High School, played earlier in the year, but still could have qualified for a medical red-shirt if he stayed on the sideline the rest of the season and proved an injury.

Muschamp said he took out starter Jeff Driskel in favor of Brissett because he wanted to reward Brissett with some playing time. Plus, the Gators were ahead 37-11 with 7:17 remaining.

“He deserved it,” Muschamp said. “I thought the game was certainly in hand, but I’d put him out there regardless of the situation. He deserved the opportunity to go in there and play and it was good to see him play.”

Brissett was the No. 2 quarterback last season, but Driskel beat him out in August for the starting job. Both players are true sophomores, creating a logjam of two guys with the same playing window. If Brissett transfers, it will not matter that he played this season because the NCAA only allows five years to play four seasons (unless a player qualifies for a hardship waiver, which is relatively rare).

But if there is any chance that Brissett stays at Florida, red-shirting this year would have given him an extra season and possibly put him in line to start at quarterback as a red-shirt senior with Driskel gone.

Here are some notes on red-shirting:

— As soon as a player takes the field, he is no longer eligible for a standard red-shirt for that season.

— A player can qualify for a medical red-shirt even if he already has played. To qualify for the medical red-shirt, a player must prove a legitimate injury, cannot play in more than four games and cannot play after the sixth game.